Cheering Up!
by Don'ts care
Summary: Quigley wants to help Fiona with her depression after the betrayal she regrets so deeply. And maybe get her to see him the way he sees her. Figley cuteness!


**Just for cute fun!**

**\--*Quigley's POV**

My triplet siblings and I had been called onto this submarine, the Queequeg, over a month ago and it's been great here. We don't know where the Baudelaires are but we're safe in here, and that's what they'd want. The two people who were running the place were Fernald, who was the hook handed man from Olaf's troupe that's had a massive change of heart, and his 16 year old sister Fiona. They said their stepfather had a very crucial mission to go on and wouldn't be back for some time, that's alright though because Fernald worked hard to take care of us. Duncan, Isadora, and I had forgiven him and found he did have a heart after all. We were happy here.

Well mostly… Duncan misses Violet like crazy. (I thought Violet was pretty when we met on Mount Fraught, but she told me she loved Duncan, and I wanted my brother to be happy. He deserves it.) And I know Isadora misses Klaus like there's no tomorrow. My siblings were in love, and I was happy about that but I do wish they could be with their loves again soon. For now we had to be patient. And there was also Fiona's problem.

Fiona told us a sad tale about how she betrayed the Baudelaires, and feels absolutely miserable about it. It was difficult to befriend her because she was in a bad depression. She has trouble coming out of her shell. In her own words, "You're too kind, but I don't deserve your friendship." She hates herself for what she did and it made me upset. Duncan and Isadora don't like it either, they want to be her friends, but I have different reasons for it.

I've kind of developed this big crush on her… she's beautiful! And she's smart too! She's always really polite, kind, and soft spoken. I love her raven hair, her tan skin, her quirky triangle-shaped glasses, and her absolutely stunning hazel eyes. But the best part is that sometimes I can get her to smile and even laugh at some of my jokes. She has a really pretty smile and a laugh that I just love. I want to help her be happy more often but… she's so nervous about trying to get close to people again that I don't know if she'll ever see me that way…

There had to be something I could do to cheer her up...

I got my brilliant idea when Fernald took Duncan and Isadora with him to get more supplies for the submarine. (He needed the help and they wanted out of the submarine for a while.) Fiona was left to watch the ship and I wanted the alone time with her so I could put my plan into action. It was easier if we were alone together.

I found Fiona in the ship's library when I wanted to start my scheme.

She looked up when she heard me walk in. "Oh, hi Quigley…" She looked back down at her book while blushing behind her glasses. She was so shy.

I smiled at her. "Hey Fiona I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me."

"Um… why?"

"Because I wanted to do something together," I replied nonchalantly.

I could tell she wanted to say yes but was stopping herself.

"What did you have in mind," She asked.

"Oh you know just talk about things. Share stuff about each other." I replied sitting on the table she was sitting at.

"I don't suppose that would be too bad… my book wasn't that interesting anyway." She demonstrated this by setting her novel aside. "What did you want know?"

I smiled at her again. I find that smiling at her is a good way to lift her spirits. But there was more to my playful little scheme.

"I was just thinking the other day about how much it sucks having a weakness. Like you think you're invincible and then somebody does something, or gives you something, and it just completely destroys that strength like a knife through butter. You know what I mean?"

Fiona gave me a tiny smile, "I know the feeling everyone has a weak spot."

"Yeah… mine is blueberries. I love blueberries and carrot sticks. I also love my hair too much. I mean," I flipped my shaggy black hair around for emphasis, "It is amazing."

She actually giggled softly at that. "Your hair is certainly something alright."

"What about you, do you have any weaknesses?"

"Anything mint-chocolate," She replied bashfully, "I like carrot sticks too. Though I'm not one to care too much for my hair."

"I think your hair is pretty."

She blushed, good sign!

"Do you have any other weaknesses?"

"Not that I can think of- oh well there is the-" She stopped herself from completing her sentence.

I raised a brow at her. "What is it?"

She looked embarrassed and didn't reply.

"Come on it can't be that bad! I promise I won't tell anyone if it's a secret."

"Would it be alright if I didn't tell you?"

I shrugged, "Have it your way."

She thanked me and went back to reading her book. And now was the time to test a little theory I had. Fiona had a habit of not letting people touch her except for Fernald. (Having hooks for hands made "touch" a loose definition, more like he had to be careful not to hurt her at all times.) But once Isadora accidentally brushed against Fiona's side while walking past her, and my glasses-eyed crush jumped back like a deer in headlights. Hm… very interesting… it made me curious.

I made a show of walking around to the bookshelf behind her chair and out of her peripheral vision. I pretended to search for some reading material on a low shelf so I would be completely submerged behind her. And ever so carefully I turned towards her. From my position, I saw her reading contentedly as if I wasn't even here anymore. Perfect…

I ever so stealthily reached my hands up to either of her sides from behind her chair. After a few seconds pausing to ensure she didn't notice me, I went in the attack. I very gently squeezed her sides through her uniform top. She squeaked in surprise and dropped her book on the table. I stood up and she did as well, quickly stepping away from me.

"Quigley- why- what- you startled me!"

I was snickering. "You're ticklish!"

Fiona blushed something awful. "I am not! You just scared me! Why did you do that?"

"Oh, I think you are," I said smirking delightfully. "And if you let me prove it, then I'll drop it. After all, if you not ticklish then you can handle being tested for it right?"

I swear I saw her start shaking. Wow she must be really ticklish. Sheesh, now I have to know her weak spots, she has such a cute laugh and I want to hear it.

"Uh… sure I guess… but what do I get out of this?"

"If you're not ticklish, then I'll apologize and buy you some mint-chocolate ice cream to make up for it. But if you are ticklish… hehe, I get to tickle you until you're not so depressed anymore!"

She pushed her glasses up her nose to hide her red cheeks and smiled weakly at me. "Ok I accept that challenge. How did you want to uh do this?"

I smirked.

"Quigley is this really necessary?"

"Well if you're ticklish then you'll squirm and try to get away." I replied as I finished tying her to my bed.

I casually removed her shoes and socks revealing her small, slender feet. I promised her I wouldn't touch anywhere too inappropriate out of respect. I then crawled onto the bed and sat beside her. I very gently lifted her uniform top up to just below her, ahem, "feminine attributes" revealing her flat stomach. Her skin looked so smooth and I'm sure it was very soft to the touch. I looked at her face and saw her blushing self-consciously about how exposed she was to me right now.

Her arms were secure above her head, and her legs were tied down tight, but not too tight. (I didn't want to hurt the girl I was crushing on, I just wanted to make her smile)

"Here's the rule: last 5 minutes without laughing, giggling, or smiling, and I'll untie you. If you can't do it, then you know what will happen," I said winking at her.

She nodded without much confidence. I could tell she was going to lose. I set my watch in a place where I could check it easily. I then reached under my bed and pulled out a box that I had a couple toys stored for the occasion with.

And so the game begins.

I started by slowly running my fingers over her stomach. She shook slightly at my touch but no noise happened. Up and down her belly I slowly went. After a few seconds I went at a more normal speed. And I noticed her shivering a little more visibly from my teasing. I poked and teased and scritched her all over. I avoided her belly button for now as I figured on using it as a serious weak spot later.

And hey, I can still talk while I tease her!

"Your skin is very soft. You must take good care of yourself." I said as I climbed onto her waist and started tickling with both hands.

Fiona was already close to cracking. She was shaking from my touch. I looked at her to see her cheeks puffed out, and her lips quivering from trying not to smile. Her face was also still red, probably from embarrassment that she was close to losing already.

I glanced at the time, 30 seconds had passed. I bet it felt like longer. So I switched my tactic: my hands instantly moved to her sides… she restrained herself from bucking me off of her as her sides were also excessively sensitive. I left not a single inch of her cute belly sides un-tickled. I even increased and decreased the speed of my fingers to give her less predictably to fight against.

"It's only been 1 minute and you don't look so good. Not that you don't look good! Just that you look like you might break any second now."

Her face went deeper red at my compliment. But I didn't let up. She still had 4 minutes and 18 seconds to go!

I took a break from her poor belly and got up. She stared in absolute silent fear as I knelt down beside her trapped feet. Without a second thought I ran a finger up her, also very soft, sole on one foot and her toes wiggled in response, I also heard the tiniest squeak from her. It wasn't laughter so she was still winning.

"Your feet are very cute," I said smiling, "And your toes certainly wiggle a lot… hmm…"

I continued scribbling my fingers around her sole and arch and used my other hand to pull out my first toy: a stiff red feather. I opted to not show it off so she couldn't prepare herself for its tickly torment. Instead I immediately used the feather on her foot and tickled her while using my free hand to tickle her other foot.

By this point, it had been 2 and a half minutes. And I could hear her making very muffled noises. She was determined to hold in her giggles but I could tell they were bubbling up forcefully. Time to be even more evil, I thought as I moved the feather to attack her toes. She made another muffled squeak and more pent up giggling. God she does not give up, does she?

"Your toes seem to be enjoying this," I teased as I started tickling in between and under her toes with the feather.

I then decided to up my game even more. I continued tickling under her toes with one hand but set the feather aside for now. My free hand pulled a brand new electric toothbrush out of the toy box. I flicked it on and attacked her arch with it. More squeaking. More shaking. And more holding back. I swear I saw her biting her lip to stop the giggles… good that means it's working.

"This probably feels worse than the feather! I can't imagine how you're doing this!" I said as I moved the spinning bristles between her toes.

3 minutes left. Time to go back to her belly with my toys!

I climbed back onto her and took my feather out again. I first tickled her neck with it before moving it down to her belly. I flicked and swished the torture device all over her belly sides and across her midsection before finally going in for the kill.

"I find the belly button to be a particularly good breaking point… what say you, Fiona? Is your cute belly button ticklish?"

Of course she couldn't answer me but I didn't give her a chance to answer before I quickly dipped the feather into her delicate center and twirled it so it touched every single spot. And the dam broke on her mouth and she released melodious, high-pitched laughter.

"Oh, what do we have here? You were lying about being ticklish? I am shocked; Fiona how dare you lie! Guess I have to tickle you as punishment!"

"HAHAHA! Q-Quigley! S-Stop HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I'M S-SORRY!"

"Oh where else are you ticklish?" I teased as I started tickling the rest of belly while twirling the feather in her navel.

I let loose and tickled everywhere, not a single inch of her torso went un-touched. And her cute laughter and squeaking made it worth it. After a while I switched out the feather in her tortured navel for the toothbrush. And I made sure no part of her center was left alone from the bristles.

Her laughter went to a higher pitch and I could see tears in eyes through her glasses. I guessed her belly button was indeed her weakest spot. I continued tickling her sides and the bottom of her ribs. (Another particularly weak spot I noticed)

I finally spared her navel from torture and proceeded to get more enjoyment from tickling the rest of her. I didn't want to make her suffer too long so I said to myself I would untie her soon. I decided to explore a few more spots for variety.

I played her ribs like an instrument and she was quite sensitive there too. I even climbed off her at one point and tickled her knees and the spots behind them, driving her wild with giggles. I tickled her neck with the feather again for fun, and finally I decided she'd had enough and stopped.

She was smiling and out of breath. Her eyes were half lidded as she was tired. I put away my toys and adjusted her shirt to cover her stomach again. I untied her legs first then her arms and offered my hand to help her sit up. She gave me a shy look and took my hand gently.

I sat down on the bed next to her as she put her shoes back on. I saw her still smiling and her face was red with embarrassment and laughter.

"So… how do you feel?"

She locked eyes with me. "I… Better actually…"

I grinned. "Really?"

Fiona nodded. "That was… kind of fun and I didn't mind it…"

"Well it felt great to see you smiling and laughing. You have a pretty smile and a cute laugh and I just want to see them more often." I felt my own face get uncomfortably hot as I realized what I was saying. "Um… I mean- you're uh… ahem… I um…"

I flinched as I felt her hand interlock with mine. She smiled at me. I love her smile; it's my favorite smile in the world.

She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you, Quigley, for caring about my happiness."

I ran a hand through my hair nervously. "Gosh… I didn't think I'd get a kiss out of that…"

Fiona giggled. Then she did something unexpected, she gave me a flirtatious smile. I couldn't help noticing a… mischievous spark in her beautiful eyes.

"So Quigley… are you ticklish?"

I felt my heart drop. "No! No I am not!"

I made a huge mistake though. She's smart. She saw right through me when I quickly stood up to step away from her. Her smile was still flirty and playful, her eyes were sparkling with mischief and revenge. She started moving towards me very slyly…

And next thing I knew I was tackled to the floor by her pounce and she got her sweet revenge by tickling me everywhere she could reach. My ribs are my weak spot though, and the second she touched them I was begging for mercy through my laughter. She was less evil though by stopping after only a few minutes.

While I was catching my breath from her attack I noticed she was sitting on top of me. She noticed too and blushed before getting off me and mumbling an apology.

I smiled at her. "Fiona, do you want to go on a date next time we have shore leave?"

She perked up. "I… I'd love to Quigley."

YES.

"Ok, uh, cool…" I said trying to sound cool while inside my heart was doing cartwheels with joy. "And I'll even still buy you that mint-chocolate ice cream too, you know, make up for today."

"Quigley, could you um not tell anyone about my weakness?"

"Only if you don't tell anyone about mine."

She kissed me on the cheek again and replied, "Deal."

**\--*The End!**

**Figley cuteness the world needs more of!**


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